For example, some disk cartridges include a case body and a plurality of disk-shaped recording media, and the plurality of disk-shaped recording media are accommodated inside the case body while being arranged side by side in a thickness direction. Regarding such disk cartridges, the disk-shaped recording media are conveyed by a disk conveyor apparatus along a predetermined path.
For example, the disk conveyor apparatus conveys the disk-shaped recording media between a holding position where the disk cartridge is held by a disk holder or a tray and a recording/reproducing position where information signals of image data, audio data, and the like are recorded and reproduced.
In the disk conveyor apparatus as described above, for example, a desired disk-shaped recording medium is taken out from the plurality of disk-shaped recording media accommodated in the disk cartridge and conveyed to the recording/reproducing position by a conveyor mechanism, and the disk-shaped recording medium for which recording and reproduction of information signals have ended is conveyed from the recording/reproducing position by the conveyor mechanism to be accommodated in the case body (see, for example, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2).
The disk conveyor apparatuses described in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 include a disk holder that holds the disk cartridge, a movement mechanism such as a slider, that moves the disk holder in a direction of a center axis of the disk-shaped recording medium, and a feeder mechanism (discharge lever) that feeds the disk-shaped recording medium toward a disk drive apparatus from the case body. The disk cartridge includes a first shell and a second shell that are separable in a vertical direction, and the plurality of disk-shaped recording media are held by the second shell. The disk holder is constituted of a separable upper holder and lower holder.
When the disk cartridge is inserted into a cartridge insertion/ejection port and held by the disk holder, the first shell and the second shell are unlocked so that the first shell and the second shell become separable. When the first shell and the second shell are unlocked, the lower holder is moved downward to a predetermined position together with the second shell.
When the lower holder is moved downward to the predetermined position, the feeder mechanism is operated (rotated), and one of the plurality of disk-shaped recording media held by the lower holder is fed toward the disk drive apparatus.